Engineering Inputs
Students build an inputs register that traces every model input to a specific source document with an assigned uncertainty.
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Computational Engineering · Build, calibrate, verify and validate the numerical model that supports your design decisions.
Deliverable: Engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package.
Minimum tables, figures and equations for Engineering Inputs
Tables — at least 6
- Table — trial sections or sizes considered, with the capacity of each and the selection decision
- Table — final selected geometry for every element: dimensions, thickness, grade, spacing, elevation
- Table — slab, beam, column and shear wall schedule with governing demand
- Table — ultimate limit state check summary: demand, capacity, ratio, pass or fail, governing clause
- Table — serviceability check summary: deflection, crack width, settlement, freeboard or velocity against its limit
- Table — factors of safety achieved against the factor required, per failure mode
Figures — at least 4
- Figure — free body diagram of each isolated element, fully labelled with loads, reactions, dimensions and axes
- Figure — shear and moment (or pressure and velocity) diagrams for each force-carrying element
- Figure — dimensioned section or plan of each designed element
- Figure — capacity versus demand plot, interaction diagram, or rating curve as applicable
Equations — at least 8
- Equation — equilibrium equations written out for each free body (sum of forces and sum of moments, or continuity and energy)
- Equation — the internal force relations V(x) and M(x), or the momentum/thrust relation, used to compute each element's demand
- Equation — the resulting demand at the critical section of each element, with numeric substitution
- Equation — the capacity expression for each element type, shown with full numeric substitution and units
- Equation — the sizing criterion that sets the final dimension (for example required area, depth or diameter)
- Equation — each limit state check written as demand over capacity with numbers substituted
- Equation — the factor of safety calculation for each failure mode checked
- Equation — punching shear, drift and deflection checks with limits
Number every table and figure (Table 4.x, Figure 4.x), caption it, and refer to it by number in your text. Number displayed equations and show the substitution with units. These counts are minimums — add whatever else your design needs.
Engineering documentation standard — required in every Chapter 4 subsection
These rules are graded on every subsection. Work that misses them is capped on technical accuracy, exhibits, codes and communication, whatever the quality of the prose.
Code and standard references
- Every requirement, factor, coefficient, limit and allowable you apply cites the governing document AND the exact section, article or sub-article number — e.g. ACI 318-19 §22.5.5.1, AISC 360-22 Chapter J, Section J3.6, AASHTO LRFD 10th Ed. Article 3.6.1.2.2, ASCE 7-22 §12.8.1, ASTM D2487, state DOT manual section, local stormwater manual chapter.
- Give the edition or year of every document the first time it appears, then use a consistent short form.
- Where a code equation is used, quote the equation number (e.g. Eq. 22.5.5.1) next to your displayed equation.
- Where you depart from a code provision, state the clause you are departing from and the engineering justification.
- List every code, standard and manual actually used in a Codes and Standards table at the start of the subsection.
Citations for statements
- Every statement of fact, value taken from elsewhere, material property, soil parameter, rainfall depth, unit cost or published method carries an in-text citation (APA) to its source.
- Field and lab data cite the report, boring log, gauge, survey file or test number and its date.
- Manufacturer data cites the product literature and revision date; software results cite the program, version and model file name.
- Uncited assertions are treated as assumptions and must appear in the assumptions table with a justification.
- Every in-text citation resolves to a full entry in the reference list.
Step-by-step calculations
- Structure every calculation the same way: (1) objective, (2) governing code clause, (3) equation in symbolic form with the equation number, (4) definition of each symbol, (5) numerical substitution, (6) result with units, (7) comparison against the limit and the pass/fail statement.
- Show the substitution line — never jump from the formula to the answer.
- Number displayed equations sequentially (Eq. 4.1, 4.2, …) and refer to them by number in the text.
- State the load or flow combination governing each calculation by name.
- Carry consistent significant figures and round only at the reported result; state the rounding convention once.
- Present repetitive element checks in a calculation table with one row per element and the same column order throughout.
Free body diagrams and figures
- Draw a separate free body diagram for each isolated element — no combined sketches standing in for several members.
- Dimension every FBD: span, depth, thickness, cover, eccentricity, embedment, slope, pipe diameter, wall height — with the dimension lines and values shown.
- Label every force, pressure, reaction and moment with its symbol, magnitude and units, and show the sign convention and coordinate axes.
- Show supports and boundary conditions explicitly (pin, roller, fixed, elastic, buoyant, hydrostatic).
- Accompany each FBD with its shear, moment, thrust, pressure or hydraulic grade diagram at the same scale reference.
- Number and caption every figure (Figure 4.x) and refer to it by number in the narrative; add a scale or north arrow to plans.
Units and notation
- Every number in text, tables, figures and equations carries its unit — no bare numbers.
- Use one unit system throughout (US customary or SI); if both appear, give the converted value in parentheses consistently.
- Check dimensional homogeneity of each equation and say so — the units of both sides must match.
- Provide a nomenclature table defining every symbol with its unit.
Checking and verification
- Every calculation is checked by an independent route — hand check against software, alternative method, order-of-magnitude estimate, or a published worked example — and the check is shown, not just claimed.
- Report demand-to-capacity ratios and factors of safety against the required values, with the source clause for each required value.
- Include a verification/checking table: item, method of check, expected, obtained, difference, accept or revise.
- Sanity-check every result (magnitude, direction, plausibility) and state the conclusion.
- Record who checked the work and on what date; flag anything still unverified as an open item.
- State limitations and the range over which the result is valid.
How to complete this section
Do this next: Read the Engineering Inputs lecture and the worked example so you know what "Engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package." has to contain.
Not sure how to start or how much depth is expected? Read the fully written model example for this deliverable first — it shows the structure, tables and level of justification your advisor grades against.
Modeling & Simulation Center — what this workspace teaches
Build, calibrate, verify and validate the numerical model that supports your design decisions.
- Selecting analysis software for the engineering question (STAAD, SAP2000, ETABS, HEC-RAS, OpenRoads, Civil3D, ArcGIS, MATLAB, Python)
- Model geometry idealization and simplification
- Boundary conditions, supports, restraints and their effect on results
- Load application and load-case management in software
- Mesh and element selection; convergence studies
- Model calibration against measured or benchmark data
- Sensitivity analysis of governing input parameters
- Verification (solving the equations right) vs. validation (solving the right equations)
- Exporting, documenting and archiving model results
End-of-term milestones
- Tuesday, November 17, 2026 — Poster printed and ready. 36 in × 48 in poster finalized and printed one week before the November 24 showcase.
- Wednesday, November 18, 2026 — Final document package uploaded for scoring. Chapters 4–5, calculation package, drawings and appendices uploaded in the app for advisor scoring.
- Wednesday, November 18, 2026 — Poster presentation to faculty and industry. Wednesday poster session — printed 36 in × 48 in poster presented in person; industry reviewers score communication and impact.
- Wednesday, November 25, 2026 — Oral presentation and defense (scored). Scored oral presentation and defense held on Wednesday, November 25.
Engineering Inputs
Students build an inputs register that traces every model input to a specific source document with an assigned uncertainty.
Section B
Engineering story
A real project situation that frames this module
It is week 3 of implementation and the civil engineering practice team has reached engineering inputs. Students build an inputs register that traces every model input to a specific source document with an assigned uncertainty. The advisor of record asks one question: what establishes that input classification?
Changing an input mid-analysis without updating the frozen inputs register. Because documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value, the error does not stay local: it is carried into the calculation package a reviewer must be able to reproduce line by line, and every downstream product inherits it before anyone notices.
The owner, the reviewing agency and the engineer of record carry the consequence. On this module specifically, the exposure runs through propagating input uncertainty forward into a stated result confidence, and the cost of correction rises every week the project record moves closer to issue.
Decisions the engineer must make
- What record establishes input classification, and is that record in the project data inventory?
- Does ASCE 7-22 (2022), Ch. 2, govern here — and is that the edition adopted by the jurisdiction?
- What is the acceptance criterion for documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value, and was it written before the result was known?
- Is the documented procedure valid for the conditions this project actually presents?
- If the check fails, does the team revise the project record or raise a change request against the locked baseline?
Photo 1. Field review: the conversation in which a scope, a constraint or a decision is actually settled.
Capstone Studio instructional photograph
Section C
Why this matters
Professional
A licensed engineer defending engineering inputs cites ASCE 7-22 (2022), Ch. 2, and shows the record behind each input. Your engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package. is reviewed the same way — traceability is assessed before arithmetic.
Technical
Input classification controls the numbers this module hands forward. Documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value determines whether those numbers remain valid once conditions change.
Safety
The failure mode this module guards against is a decision made without a traceable basis. It reaches people through distinguishing a nominal input value from its design (factored) value, which is why the safety check is recorded explicitly here rather than inferred from a passing strength or performance check.
Economic
The calculation package a reviewer must be able to reproduce line by line is priced from this work. Quantities, unit costs and schedule float all trace to input classification; a late correction here is paid for as a change order, not a redline.
Environmental
Environmentally, this module fixes material use, land disturbance and the waste stream generated by rework. Choosing conservatively without justification is not free — the excess shows up as material, energy and land that the project consumes for no measurable gain.
Community
The residents and agencies who inherit the completed work inherit whatever this module decides — performance, accessibility, cost of ownership and resilience are set here, not at the ribbon-cutting.
Section D
Learning objectives
By the end of this module you will be able to:
- 1.Analyze input classification, using this project's own conditions rather than a textbook case.
- 2.Justify documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value, using this project's own conditions rather than a textbook case.
- 3.Interpret propagating input uncertainty forward into a stated result confidence, using this project's own conditions rather than a textbook case.
- 4.Apply distinguishing a nominal input value from its design (factored) value, using this project's own conditions rather than a textbook case.
- 5.Apply ASCE 7-22 (2022), Ch. 2, and cite the section that governs your acceptance decision.
- 6.Produce engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package. at a standard the advisor of record would accept without a second revision cycle.
Section E
Instructional content
Full lecture notes with figures and governing equations
The engineering content of engineering inputs
Students build an inputs register that traces every model input to a specific source document with an assigned uncertainty. That single sentence hides the substance of the module: input classification, and documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value. Both must be established from project evidence before anything downstream is credible.
In civil engineering practice, this work is the input to the project record. Propagating input uncertainty forward into a stated result confidence — which is why this page asks you to record the source of every quantity, not just its value. The calculation package a reviewer must be able to reproduce line by line depends on it.
- Input classification: measured, code-prescribed, assumed, derived
- Documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value
- Propagating input uncertainty forward into a stated result confidence
- Distinguishing a nominal input value from its design (factored) value
Photo 1. The engineering content of engineering inputs in practice — Field review: the conversation in which a scope, a constraint or a decision is actually settled.
Capstone Studio instructional photograph
Decision logic: the procedure that replaces a closed-form solution
Engineering Inputs is governed by a documented procedure rather than a single expression, so the decision logic is the deliverable: what you accept, what you reject, and on what evidence. Input classification.
Write the acceptance criterion before you look at the result. Documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value — recording the criterion afterwards lets it be shaped to fit the number you happened to get.
Photo 2. Decision logic: the procedure that replaces a closed-form solution in practice — Field review: the conversation in which a scope, a constraint or a decision is actually settled.
Capstone Studio instructional photograph
Constraints, adopted standards and the safety case for engineering inputs
ASCE 7-22 (2022), Ch. 2, governs this module: Load combination inputs required before analysis
The safety case is explicit here. The failure mode is a decision made without a traceable basis; the people exposed are the owner, the reviewing agency and the engineer of record; the control that prevents it is distinguishing a nominal input value from its design (factored) value together with an independent check by someone who did not perform the work.
- Controlling criterion for this module: input classification.
- Adopted reference: ASCE 7-22 (2022) — cite Ch. 2 by number.
- Failure mode guarded: a decision made without a traceable basis.
- Evidence produced: Engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package..
Photo 3. Constraints, adopted standards and the safety case for engineering inputs in practice — Field review: the conversation in which a scope, a constraint or a decision is actually settled.
Capstone Studio instructional photograph
Where this method stops being valid
Every method has a domain of validity. State the range of geometry, loading, material behaviour or flow regime over which your approach holds, and state what you would do instead beyond it.
For this project, the boundary you are most likely to push is distinguishing a nominal input value from its design (factored) value. If you cross it, say so in writing, bound the error, and carry the limitation into your results chapter. A disclosed limitation is professional practice; a silent extrapolation is not.
Photo 4. Where this method stops being valid in practice — Compression test on a concrete cylinder: the measurement behind every f′c used in design.
Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Section F
Engineering workflow
Steps
- 1. Assemble the inputs this module needs — input classification; documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value — each with a unit and a source record.
- 2. Confirm ASCE 7-22 (2022) is the adopted edition and locate Ch. 2.
- 3. State the assumptions and the acceptance criterion for input classification.
- 4. Execute the documented procedure, recording each judgement and the evidence behind it.
- 5. Test the result against propagating input uncertainty forward into a stated result confidence.
- 6. Audit units and run an order-of-magnitude check by hand before the number leaves your desk.
- 7. Obtain an independent check from a teammate who did not perform the work, and record their name and date.
- 8. Assemble engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package. and submit it to the advisor of record for review.
Decision points
- Is every input behind input classification traceable? If not — stop and collect the record.
- Does the result satisfy documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value? If not — revise the work, never the criterion.
- Would the correction change the calculation package a reviewer must be able to reproduce line by line? If yes — raise a change-control request before proceeding.
- Have you ruled out the most common error on this module — changing an input mid-analysis without updating the frozen inputs register?
Quality checklist
- Documented: input classification
- Documented: documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value
- Documented: propagating input uncertainty forward into a stated result confidence
- ASCE 7-22 Ch. 2 cited by section number
- Procedure steps recorded in order with evidence
- Acceptance criterion recorded before the result
- Independent check signed and dated
- Engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package. attached and named per the course convention
Section H
Interactive visualization
Engineering Inputs — step-through
Advance one frame at a time. Each frame adds one engineering decision to the previous state.
Step 1 of 6
List every input the calculation requires.
Section I
Applicable codes and standards
ASCE 7-22
2022 · Ch. 2
Adopted design/analysis reference governing this module.
Relevance: Load combination inputs required before analysis
Reference the section number and edition in your calculation package. Do not reproduce code text.
Section J
Worked examples
Full engineering solution format
Section K
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Changing an input mid-analysis without updating the frozen inputs register.
- Entering a factored design value into a field labeled as the nominal (unfactored) value.
- Treating input classification as a given instead of establishing it from a project record.
- Producing engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package. without showing how documenting source, date, and reliability tier for every input value was satisfied.
- Recording the outcome of this module without recording the judgement and evidence that produced it.
- Missing distinguishing a nominal input value from its design (factored) value, which is exactly the path to a decision made without a traceable basis.
- Reporting model output without documenting mesh, boundary conditions, solver settings or convergence.
- Calibrating a model until it matches expectation, then presenting the match as validation.
- Stopping at output and skipping verification — an unverified number is not an engineering result.
- Confusing results (what the analysis produced) with conclusions (what the engineer decided).
- Ignoring constructability: a design that cannot be built safely is not a completed design.
Section L
Industry case study
Documented failure related to engineering inputs
A constructed civil works project where this module's decision was made incorrectly or skipped.
Official findings
- Published investigation identified a breakdown between analysis assumption and constructed condition.
Field observations
- The controlling assumption was documented nowhere in the design record.
- No independent check existed at the stage where the error entered the work.
Engineering interpretation
- Interpretation below is student analysis for instructional purposes, not an official finding.
- Map the failure to a step in your own workflow and state where your process would have caught it.
Lessons learned
- Document the assumption, then have someone else check it before it becomes construction.
Source: Summarize the published investigation; cite it in your reference list. Do not reproduce copyrighted report text.
Section M
FE Civil exam connection
Handbook FE Reference Handbook — civil engineering practice section (record the section number from your handbook edition).
Exam topics
Handbook formulas
Weak results here feed your FE Civil Academy weak-area queue for targeted practice.
Question 1 of 2
Score: 0/2In engineering inputs, which item must be established BEFORE the analysis is run?
Section N
Apply it to your project — Engineering Inputs
Complete this using your own capstone project data. Every field is saved to your project record and routed to your advisor with this module's submission.
Inputs and sources
Every value needs a traceable source.
| Quantity | Value | Unit | Source / record |
|---|
Assumptions and consequences
| Assumption | Basis | Consequence if wrong |
|---|
Self-check before submission
Section O
Design challenge
Consulting challenge — Engineering Inputs
Your firm has been retained to deliver the engineering inputs scope for a municipal client on a compressed schedule. Produce the technical position your firm would defend at a public meeting.
Client request: The client wants a defensible recommendation, the basis of design, and an honest statement of what remains unresolved.
Constraints
- Adopted local code edition governs; no exceptions without written variance.
- Budget and schedule are fixed; scope changes require change control.
- Public safety and accessibility requirements are non-negotiable.
Deliverables
- One-page basis of design
- Supporting calculation extract
- Risk and limitation statement
Evaluation
- Technical correctness
- Standard compliance
- Clarity of engineering judgment
- Honest treatment of uncertainty
Section P
Documentation workspace
Write the report section for this module in the academic editor
Section Q
File uploads
Accepted: PDF, DOCX, XLSX, CSV, PNG, JPG, ZIP
No files uploaded yet.
Section R
Deliverable and advisor review
Engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package.
Submissions route to your assigned faculty advisor and are scored independently by faculty and administrator rubrics.
Reflection
What was the hardest engineering judgment in this module, and how did you resolve it?
Section S
ABET outcome mapping
Engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package. with advisor review and dual scoring.
Assessment: Faculty rubric score and administrator rubric score on this module's submission.
Rubric: Technical analysis · Target: 70% of students at or above 'meets expectations'.
Engineering inputs register linked to the investigation data package. with advisor review and dual scoring.
Assessment: Faculty rubric score and administrator rubric score on this module's submission.
Rubric: Technical analysis · Target: 70% of students at or above 'meets expectations'.
Section T
References and further study
ASCE 7-22 (2022)
Adopted reference — cite section numbers, do not reproduce text.
Engineering Inputs — instructor design procedure
Course template for the calculation package format expected in the final report appendix.
NCEES FE Reference Handbook
Locate the equations used here and note the handbook section for exam recall.
Advisor meeting agenda item
Bring the unresolved decision from this module to your next weekly advisor meeting.